My first memories of my Auntie Josie all seem to focus on her hair! I can still see her sitting in front of the window in the back room of the sweet shop that her mother ran at the top of Hawes Lane in Rowley Regis. She was brushing her exceedingly long hair, watched by the family’s huge grey cat, Rupert. Her mother, Harriett Victoria was sitting in her rocking chair knitting . I have always wanted long hair and I wonder if these early experiences of watching my aunt brush her locks are where that thought came from. Sadly mine won’t grow past my shoulders.

We went on a road trip to Wales at one time to visit Uncle Ray’s family. This must have been in about 1966. I’ve been puzzling how we all fitted in one car as my father drove and the rest of the party was Auntie Josie, Nana Beddows (or Pussy Nana as we always called her due to the aforementioned cat, Rupert), my mom, me and my sister, Stephanie, who would have been a tiny baby. Even though I was about 8 at the time, I can still remember fleeting images of the stream in the garden, the wooden staircase, the flagstone floors and most importantly that I went with a Welsh girl whose name escapes me to collect the eggs from the chickens, a totally new experience for me. I wrote to this Welsh girl for quite a few years after our visit. The visit must have taken place on a Sunday, as I remember the church service was to be held in the kitchen and the furniture was being rearranged to accommodate it.

I was then a bridesmaid at Josie and Ray’s wedding in 1967.

Even though I haven’t seen my auntie for many years, I have kept several of her Christmas cards, covered in her distinctive fountain pen writing and updating me about the family news. I missed not receiving one of these in 2020.

Jayne Hall 4/2/2021